December 31, 2012

I
have a confession to make: I’m not a connoisseur when it comes to wine; which
is odd considering that my grandfather used to make homemade wine every fall,
and now my parents are taking a stab at his recipe and they’re getting closer
and closer to perfecting it.So, wine is
something I’ve always been familiar with, but unfortunately never grown to really
appreciate it.If I’m in the mood for a
drink when dining out I’ll most likely opt for a cocktail.Occasionally, I may fall for a Riesling… or
anything sweeter than that.I rarely
drink red wine except from when it’s hot and infused with winter spices. Hence,
confession number two: I have a soft spot for Hot Mulled Wine.

Once
the cold days arrive and the holidays are approaching, everyone in Romania (and
most of Europe) from the fanciest restaurant to the neighborhood tavern serves hot
mulled wine – vin fiert.And I’m just like a kid in a candy store,
barely containing my excitement until I get to order a glass of aromatic hot mulled
wine.

There’s
something warm and comforting about mulled wine.It warms you up on frigid winter days; it’s
perfect to enjoy while out with your friends, while taking a break from the ski
slopes or opening gifts by the Christmas tree. But more often than not I love
sipping it while snuggling by the fireplace or lounging on the couch on a cold and
snowy night.

Mulled
wine is generally made with red wine; and even the cheapest red wine will work wonders.I toss a variety of spices in my mulled wine
just like my grandma taught me, but instead of using plain sugar to sweeten it
up I prefer the delicate agave nectar or honey.I also like just a stick of cinnamon in there because it gives the wine
a nice and soothing nuance without being overpowering; the cardamom adds a tart
lemony rush, the black peppercorns bring a… well… peppery kick while the cloves
and star anise enhance the warmth and aromas.And, for a fruity and citrusy accent, orange slices are an inspired
addition.Hot mulled wine is not your super-luxe
holiday drink; instead, it’s a relaxed, fun and festive way to celebrate the
winter holidays.Cheers and Happy New
Year everyone!

Hot Mulled Wine

Serves:
4 servings

Ingredients:

·1 liter (4 cups) red wine

·Heaped 1/3 cup light agave nectar (or honey)

·1 cinnamon stick

·1 star anise

·3 cardamom pods

·5 whole cloves

·10 black peppercorns

·Orange slices for serving

Instructions:

Pour
the wine in a saucepan over medium-low heat.Add the agave nectar, cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom pods, cloves
and peppercorns.Whisk until the agave
nectar dissolves.When the wine gets to
the boiling point turn the heat off.Let
it stand for 10-15 minutes.Pour the mulled
wine into glasses (strain the spices out); add orange slices and enjoy
responsibly!

Note:I really like this combination of spices in
my mulled wine, but you can spice it up as you fancy; toss in or toss out
whichever spices you like.Also, you can
opt for apple or lemon slices instead of oranges.The options are endless.

December 20, 2012

We
have a famous saying in Romania: The best
bird is the pig.And that’s
particularly true around Christmas when our pork consumption goes through the
roof.Yes; at Christmas whether rich or
poor, we all gather around an abundant holiday table full of elaborate
traditional pork dishes.But before we
dive into those popular pork concoctions we like to nibble on Homemade Pretzels to open up our
appetite while we enjoy a glass of wine, mulled wine or our famous ţuică.

Sometimes,
I feel that we, Romanians, could live on bread and pretzels and nothing else
year round.If in the U.S. there’s a
Starbucks on every corner, in Romania there’s a bread and pretzel shop on every
corner.

My
grandmother spoils us every Christmas with an incredibly generous array of more
than three hundred homemade sesame, caraway and cheese pretzels and miniature
soft cheese croissants.I’m instantly
salivating just writing these words.Since this year we won’t be home in Romania to partake in the Christmas
baking spree and enjoy all that savory and sweet deliciousness that the
holidays bring, I absolutely had to bake some pretzels.I decided to skip the miniature soft cheese croissants
since there’s some serious work involved but I couldn’t skip the sesame and
Parmesan pretzels.

As
you can imagine, I used Grandma Vicki’s recipe because it’s the one that I’m
accustomed to and the one that always delivers foolproof results, which fill us
with joy and keep our tummies content every Christmas.And to my utter delight the results were
indeed wonderful.The pretzels came out
of the oven perfectly golden, nicely seasoned, and spotted with sesame seeds
and crunchy salt bits, and thin cheesy crust.They were plump, crisp, crumbly, and they filled the house with that
homey, warming and comforting freshly baked bread smell.The best part, though, they were just like the
pretzels my grandma baked last Christmas.And the fact that I made them while Skypeing with my mom, who was
guiding me and approving every step, made them so much more special; as if I
were home baking with my mom and grandma.

The
recipe looks a bit lengthy but don’t let that intimidate you.At the end of the day, it all simmers down to
some patience and a bit of muscle for kneading the dough.The rest will unfold on its own.You’ll have plenty of pretzels to devour on
your own for the holidays and even to give away as homemade gifts if you’d like.Just don’t forget to dress them up.Enjoy and Merry Christmas everyone!

Preheat
the oven to 350°F.Separate the egg yolk
and egg whites.Keep both close at hand.

In a
large bowl, mix together the flour and the dry yeast.Whisk for 30 seconds.Add the butter and, using clean hands, gently
combine it with the flour and yeast mixture until the butter absorbs the
flour.Add the egg yolk and salt and
mix.Gradually, add the milk (about 3
Tablespoons at a time), and mix well.

Transfer
the dough to a working surface.Start
kneading the dough adding a little bit of flour and milk as necessary until the
dough becomes soft, elastic and pliable, and sticks together.Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.Then, divide the dough into four balls and
allow them to rest on the work surface for 10-15 minutes.

In
the meantime, line four baking sheets with parchment paper.Beat the egg whites and keep close at
hand.

Roll
out the dough into a ¼-inch thick sheet (work with one ball of dough at a
time).The dough should be easy to work
with and to roll out and should not stick to the working surface, but if you
feel that it gets stuck, flour the rolling pin and working surface with some
flour.

Transfer
the dough to one of the prepared baking sheets.Using a fluted pastry wheel cut the sides of the dough to perfectly fit
onto the baking sheet.Using a pastry
brush, lightly brush the dough with the egg whites.Then, lightly sprinkle the dough with sesame
seeds and salt; or with grated Parmesan cheese.Using the fluted pastry wheel cut the dough into about 4-inch (10 cm)
long and finger wide pretzel sticks.Bake them for about 30 minutes.Repeat with the remaining dough.

December 13, 2012

Well,
I obviously couldn’t stay away from chocolate for toolong.And that’s because I stumbled upon chocolate
truffles, Brazilian Chocolate Truffles
that is. As you may notice, I said Brazilian.These are not your regular chocolate truffles
sprung up from the plain melted chocolate and cream mixture known as ganache.Although I do go gaga over those ones too, these
Brazilian truffles bring something more to the table; they bring that sweet something,
which makes them gooey and pleasantly sweet.There’s condensed milk involved in the process instead of cream.So, with the cookie season upon us and since
I’ve been a dessertjunkie lately, these Brazilian
Chocolate Truffles deserve my undivided attention and take center stage
among chocolate concoctions.

Truffles
come dressed to impress every time, and these are nothing short of that. Known
in Brazil as Brigadeiro, these chocolate truffles are traditionally rolled in
chocolate sprinkles.To make them extra
special, I coated them in walnut-cinnamon for a spicy and nutty crunch, and
coconut flakes for a snowflakes look. Needless to say, I felt like making homemade
Ferrero Rocher and Raffaello chocolates except for the thin wafer shell encased
hazelnut.But who needs that hazelnut in
there when you can have pure decadent chocolate awesomeness?These candies are totally rich and chocolatey,
dense and fudgy, and sort of chewy and caramel-like in parts.They are pretty, festive and so addictive; and
did I mention homemade.Totally homemade!

One
final note: I made the classic Brazilian chocolate truffles first, and boozed the
next batch with Amaretto liquor for a responsible grown-up version.We finished them in one sitting. Nothing responsible there. Enjoy… responsibly!

Brazilian Chocolate Truffles

Adapted
from Food & Wine (December 2012)

Serves:About 30 truffles

Ingredients:

·1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

·3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa),
chopped

·1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·1 teaspoon unsalted butter, plus more for
rubbing

·1/8 teaspoon salt

·Optional: 1-2 Tablespoons Amaretto liquor

·Chocolate sprinkles, for rolling

·1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped, for
rolling (I pulsed the walnuts a couple of times in the food processor)

·1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon

·1 cup flaked sweetened coconut, for rolling

Instructions:

In a
nonstick saucepan, combine the condensed milk with the chocolate, vanilla, 1
teaspoon of butter, salt and Amaretto liquor (if using).Cook over medium-low
heat, stirring constantly, until shiny and very thick and starts to pull away
from the pan, about 15 minutes.Spread
the mixture in a shallow dish and let cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate
until chilled, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Arrange
30 paper candy cups on a baking sheet.Pour the sprinkles into a shallow bowl.Rub your hands with butter.Using
a 1 ¼-inch ice cream scoop, spoon the candy mixture and roll them into
balls.Roll the candy in the sprinkles
and set them in a paper cup.Repeat to
form the remaining candies.Serve
slightly chilled or at room temperature.

Walnut-Cinnamon and Coconut Variations:

In
place of the sprinkles, in a shallow bowl, blend the toasted and chopped
walnuts with cinnamon and use to coat the candies.Or coat them in coconut flakes.

December 7, 2012

I
love sweet potatoes, but generally I only love them for Thanksgiving or similar
occasions.They’re hardly ever on my
weekly menu.Naturally, I made sweet
potatoes for Thanksgiving; I just couldn’t neglect them.But here’s the catch; when you go
Thanksgiving shopping you always tend to buy way more than you actually need
for that special turkey meal.I was no
exception.The sweet potato recipe I
used this year called for 5 pounds of
sweet potatoes.I only used half that
amount but the damage had already been done; the shopping was over and the
pantry was still overflowing with potatoes.So, what do you do with those extra sweet potatoes staring at you?You make Maple
Sweet Potato Cake.Best decision
ever!

I
was flicking trough the November issue of Every
Day with Rachael Ray when I stumbled upon this gorgeous cake.At first, it didn’t jump off the page to
greet me and it didn’t really speak to me either.But I desperately wanted to use those extra
sweet potatoes, so this recipe looked like the perfect candidate. I didn’t expect the final result to be so
utterly sublime.It was probably because
of all those drunken golden raisins.

The
color of this cake is simply stunning.That vibrant orangey hue reminds me of summer; but the sweet potato
flavor, the smokiness and warmth of the amber maple syrup, and the dust of
white sugar on top make it so festive, elegant and wintery. I love how dense and moist this cake is with
small chunks of sweet potatoes spread throughout.It’s also sweet, though not overly sugary
that you can’t stop gulping gallons of water after just one bite.

And
then there’s that faint booziness from, well, all those rum infused golden raisins.I’m a fan of any recipe that requires soaking
dried fruit in alcohol because it brings them back to life.That’s why I doused a decent amount of golden
raisins in a pool of rum and they thanked me for it.They became plump, full of life and full of –
wait for it – rum.I urge you to try it,
too; you’ll thank me later. Simply put,
this cake is bold, beautiful and bursting with seasonal spices and flavors and,
of course, rum. Enjoy!

Maple Sweet Potato Cake

Adapted
from Every Daywith Rachael Ray
(November 2012)

Makes:
10 to 12 servings

Ingredients:

·2 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 2 medium
potatoes)

·½ cup golden raisins

·¾ cup rum

·2 cups flour

·2 teaspoons baking powder

·¼ teaspoon salt

·1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter, at room
temperature

·¾ cup (packed) light brown sugar

·¾ cup pure maple syrup

·1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

·3 large eggs, at room temperature

·Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Instructions:

Generously
grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.In a small bowl, add the raisins and rum; let sit.

Preheat
oven to 350°F.Pierce each sweet potato
several times with a fork and place on a baking sheet.Bake until very tender when pierced with a
fork, about 1 hour 15 minutes.Remove
from the oven and let rest until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.Cut the sweet potatoes in half and scoop out
the flesh until you have 1 cup.

In a
medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt.In a separate bowl, beat the butter and brown
sugar using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth.On low speed, mix in the maple syrup and
vanilla extract.Add the eggs 1 at a
time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the
bowl.Mix in the sweet potatoes, then
the flour mixture ½ cup at a time until incorporated.Drain the raisins; add them to the batter
using a spatula.Pour into the pan,
smoothing the top.

Bake
the cake until springy in the center and a cake tester inserted into the middle
comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes.Transfer to a rack; let cool for 30 minutes.Remove the sides of the pan, transfer the
cake to a plate and dust with confectioners’ sugar.